11/5/07

This isn't a slam against any of the following moneymaker programs and it's not a "break their kneecaps" type threat by the Monetizer either. In fact it's more of a testimony to the fact that there's other programs and ways you can use to make money online besides big old Google Adsense. In a previous post Monetizer mentioned online programs that have payed out, including Adsense which is a steady earner. Even though Adsense is tried and true, there exists other programs that tend to bring in some extra loot, and probably work well if you set them up and tweak them right. Here's 4 more online moneymakers where Monetizer hasn't been payed, but will because there's a threshold to be met. Each item will include the Anticipated Time for Payment or "ATP".

1) AuctionAds - Monetizer actually likes this program and believes it could do well if used with the right niches. In fact, here's a few ideas. Video game blog/sites or technology sites will probably do very well with this. If you're a video game-aholic or techie you probably like to get cool new stuff and find good deals on it. The Monetizer does and confesses to buying video games used off Ebay. It makes sense to buy a game used for $20 or less rather than full price. That said, you'd best believe there are others out there who want video games off Ebay. Same goes for tech toys, like computer accessories. Building a blog or website around either topic makes a great deal of sense.

Monetizer is close to AuctionAd's threshold of $50, mostly due to their $25 signup bonus they start you with. However not many people will complain with another $50 coming their way. The main issue Monetizer is seeing is that AuctionAds does not show you much in the way of your stats for referral earnings. Referrals seem to help too with this one, and as mentioned above if you developed one of those type sites you probably will see good AuctionAds results.

ATP - Within the next month or so Monetizer should hit the threshold for the first payout of $50.

2) Kontera - It may take as many as 5-6 more months before the Monetizer achieves their $100 threshold, but again nobody complains when getting some extra income. This is a PPC contextual advertising program and it's allowed to run with Adsense. Now this advertising program would earn better from high traffic sites, as John Chow makes mention of earning $1000 with this program in October 2007. Mr. Chow also explains how you can sign up for Kontera through him, even if you're a smalltime blogger. There have been some people who have complained Kontera hurts their Adsense earnings, but if you're doing things right and well, having additional moneymakers can never hurt. Kontera is an easy way to add another steady moneymaker to your site.

ATP - Within the next 5 to 6 months unless a traffic explosion occurs.

3) Squidoo - This one allows you to set your threshold wherever you want it, even like a dollar payout. Monetizer's is set to $10, and I'm over halfway there. The earnings come via shared revenue from the site's Adsense ads they run, or if you place Ebay, Amazon and other products on your site that are purchased. You get more of the share of Squidoo's Adsense earnings the more successful your Lens pages are. The share amount is based on another one of those formulas where we all get to wonder about how they divvy it up. It's a fun site though and most likely you can earn well by placing referrals and affiliate links on your Squidoo lenses (such as Clickbank below). So merely looking at the Squidoo earnings you get a share in won't tell you the whole story of how much money you've made from the site. Monetizer had a successful campaign though and nearly hit the top 100 Squidoo lenses (maxed out at #122). This may mean the revenue share achieved for October pushes Monetizer to the payout threshold of $10.

ATP - Maybe this month or next? Overall it took a good 4-5 months with several lenses to generate just $5-10 (plus a Clickank sale shown below). Getting your lenses a lot of traffic and ranked in the top 100 lenses can definitely bring you a higher revenue share on the site though.

4) Clickbank - This is a moneymaker the Monetizer hasn't discussed much yet, but one that many people swear by. Clickbank allows you to pitch and promote affiliate programs of all types from downloadable e-books on making money to diet programs to memberships for MP3 and movie sites. You earn a commission sometimes as much as 75% of the product price. Referring back to Squidoo, Monetizer hadn't tinkered with Clickbank's affiliate program all that much beyond sticking some links on Squidoo lenses. Lo and Behold on a random log in, a sale had been made with a commission of $26 for a product.

The sale came from a link placed on a Squidoo lens nonetheless, and the product wasn't even heavily promoted there beyond a link and simple line description. Now the caveat with this is that Clickbank would pay that $26 out if it had been a PayPal purchase. However, they seem strict with paying out for Credit card transactions and have a rule indicating you need at least one Mastercard and one Visa transaction and a total of 5 credit card transactions to get a payment. If you get a PayPal buy though, you're good. Monetizer added several more links onto Squidoo lenses just to see what it may bring, as the Clickbank affiliate site has been touted by many all across the net as a great way to get income.

ATP - Could be next month, or could take a few months depending on how much more the Monetizer tests this one out. However with enough work and effort put into this one, the Monetizer can see and has seen others talk about its ability to provide a nice online income.

To sum things up, the four moneymakers above are ones that the Monetizer has not spent a lot of time testing and tweaking, with maybe the exception of AuctionAds. However they should be paying out in the future and Monetizer never turns down extra income. Squidoo and Clickbank definitely appear to be some interesting moneymakers, as they could bring you some great passive income when you're least expecting it. Kontera and AuctionAds are great secondary moneymakers to use along with the granddaddy of them all, Adsense. Depending on how much work and effort you put in, you could see even better results yourself with any of these four.

(Note: The Monetizer plays to audition again for PayPerPost as of November 6th, the official 90 day anniversary of this blog)